A&E at Limerick Regional will not be closing insists HSE

THE Health Service Executive is insisting there is “no question” of the Accident and Emergency department at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle having to close at night from today due to staff shortages.

It was revealed last month that the hospital’s medical board had warned the HSE that 24-hour A & E services could not be retained at the hospital from today if additional non-consultant doctors were not recruited.

The chairman of the board, Dr Sandy Fraser, claimed that patients attending accident and emergency from July 11 may have to be diverted to either Cork or Galway during night-time hours due to a chronic shortage of non-consultant hospital doctors.

Although there are still some shortages of non-consultant doctors across the country Bernard Gloster, regional manager with the HSE, says A & E services will not be affected at Limerick Regional Hospital in the short term. “We have sufficient medical staff at the hospital for the coming weeks and that will allow us time to continue to work on improving the level of recruitment of non consultant hospital doctors,” he said.

Mr Gloster says the matter is receiving the highest attention. “There are a number of national initiatives underway at present which will also be of assistance to us in filling our complement of NCHDs. The Emergency Department will not be closing”.

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